Chapter 32: Popped Bubbles

It is important to know when to reuse ideas, and with an opportunity like this, I know I can easily recycle my idea from Fort Forth! Essentially, I asked Faul Formi to help create the dungeon for the Hero this time around. After some discussion, it was decided that the remains of the Weituriche Bank would be purchased by Faul, and she would build an "undisclosed facility” there, spanning five floors. Three above ground floors, and two basement floors.

The facility would essentially just be a warp trap dungeon. A maze that purposely tries to get the navigators lost, filled with strategically placed opponents and demotivating warps that distort direction and cause bouts of dizziness.

With Fort Forth, I had to make do with what was already there, but with Faul Formi, I can use the power of overwhelming wealth to essentially craft the perfect stalling mechanism! The Hero will be delayed even further with this, and that leaves me with plenty of more time to perfectly plan his defeat.

“Alrighty then, Talon darling, I’ll have that “dungeon” of yours set up within two days. That should be enough, right?”

“Wow, that’s fast! Miss Faul, you’re efficient!”

“You can’t make it in this world without being efficient, make sure you remember that, alright? For doing me such a wonderful favor by not taking the money, I’d be real scum if I didn’t help you the best I could.”

She takes another blow of her bubbles before continuing.

“Darling, I want to ask you a few questions… privately… Would you be fine with that? It would be just a few moments.”

“Um, sure? If that’s what you want.”

“Alright then, you two dusty boys can head back down to the first floor. My girls will guide you. Go have fun.”

“Human, why does she keep calling us dusty?”

“Mahdnus, I’m just as clueless as you. Let’s just leave Talon for now and ask her about it later.”

“Hmph.”

Not even a moment later, they’re whisked away by giggling succubi. I almost want to join them…

“So, Talon, are you aware of your… current status?”

“Eh? Like a status effect? Miss Faul, I think I’m perfectly fine. If anything, I feel a bit odd wearing this bunny suit, and my feet kinda hurt from the heels.”

“Hmm, I mean something a little deeper. Something that would affect the very way you perceived the world.”

“Oh! Can you see the necrotic energy within me? Yeah, apparently I can’t take this ring off or I’ll, uh, become an undead. Reuby and another acquaintance of mine were particularly insistent about that. I trust them, so I’m not going to risk taking it off.”

“...That wasn’t what I was talking about, but now I’m curious. It may actually be related to what I was questioning you about. Did you cast a certain spell to end up in that state?”

“Ah, I did, actually. It seems you might know about it?”

“I do. And I’ve memorized its strange and long name as well. I have to ask though. How were you able to read something like that?”

“Um. Well. I just… did.”

“Hmm~ you were just able to?”

“That’s right.”

There’s a heavy silence in the room for a good minute. I can see Faul’s purple eyes scanning me up and down, focusing on specific parts of my body. Is she sizing me up? Maybe she’s reading my necrotic energy and trying to decipher the spell. But if she knows the spell, what’s with the scrutinizing gaze?

“Talon, I’ll stop beating around the bush. I’ll need you to answer me honestly.”

“...Okay?”

She suddenly changed her tone and got serious. This unforeseen pressure is worrying me a little bit.

“Do you know what an automobile is?”

“...Huh?”

“Have you seen an airplane fly? Do you understand the concept of a cellphone?”

“Wait, huh?!”

“Heh, it seems like I know my answer.”

“Are you… are you also-”

“I’m not. Whatever world you’re from, I’m not from there. But I have met other people like you.”

“How… how did you know?”

“Because you act just like them. Despite your efforts, you still act a little bit awkward in this new body of yours. Just like them, you have a strange affinity for a variety of powers despite your human status, and just like them, you act as if you know events are going to happen, and take drastic measures to change the future. Plus, your dusty friend said that you commonly talk of strange things. That was what confirmed it for me.”

“Are these other people… still around?”

“They have moved on from this world.”

“...I see. How many have you seen?”

“You are the fourth, so there were three others before you. In fact the owner of the spell you cast was the first one who fell into Namida.”

“Necrobelle?”

“Indeed. She was banished by all of her peers in this world, and grew bitter. Eventually sealing her shattered will into her spells. It was a pitiful way to go.”

“And the other two?”

“The second one was a man who lost himself to the raging sea, and the girl before you was a promising mage who was slain at the hooves of a beast who wields storms as a weapon.”

“The Raindeer…”

“So you know about it. It’s truly a terrible creature.”

I wonder if the third girl was a person related to the General? It could be the reason why he had such a bad case of delirium.

“I want to give you a fair warning, alright darling? Those people were not careful. They were ambitious and were blinded by opportunity. You can have big aspirations, but whatever you’re aiming for, and whoever you are, you can’t keep it all to yourself. You’re already teetering on the brink of life and death. If nothing else, make sure you have people around to help you.”

“Well… that’s actually what I was already doing.”

“Oh?”

“I’m just Village Girl A. Someone like me is forced to cater to the Hero and live an unassuming life. But I don’t want that. I have something to take back. I’m just temporarily attending to my new role before I disappear into the background. But in order to do that, I need people stronger than me. I have an Orc Tribe by my side, I have a legendary General who I became friends with, and I’ll continue to gather people who will support me, if even for just a little bit.”

“I see you’ve thought this out.”

“I have. Sometimes I just go with the flow, but even if I mess up, things will work out if I believe they will.”

“That’s a remarkably positive mindset darling, but I don’t dislike it.”

“It’s actually stemmed from a negative mindset, but, uh, I’ll take your compliment…”

“Is that so?~”

“Regardless, I’ve also got you on my side now, and since you’re concerned for me, I’m sure to be fine.”

“My mindset could change at any moment though, couldn’t it? I wonder what makes you so confident.”

“You’re a half-succubus, and succubi are a type of demon. You have to follow the Hellish Nine Rules whether you’d like to or not. Since I defeated The Void’s Greed and put you in debt, doesn’t that mean I claimed victory over you? It was your enchantments to the machine that were defeated, and therefore, it was your defeat.”

“...I didn’t expect you to know about those, I’m impressed.”

“I know a lot about Namida. Some people in my old world said I knew too much. But it’s thanks to that knowledge that I was able to make the connections I have now. And I’m definitely glad to have met you! You weren’t a character in the game, so this is a new experience even for me!”

“A game, you say? Was there a way to view this world before you visited us? Everyone else had different ways of doing it. Let’s see, I believe it was a book for Necrobelle, a theater play for the second man, and what did the third girl say…? Something about moving pictures.”

“A movie? A piece of animation?”

“Hmm, that sounds about right. And now you claim that this world was experienced through a game. How curious.”

“Interesting…”

“Well, we’ve done enough chatting. I’ll prepare a few things and call you back tomorrow. Before you leave Gimmimunee, there’s something I want to give you. For now, enjoy the casino and relax. You’ve clearly been through a lot. Take it easy, alright darling?”

With a wink, she pushes me out of the room with magic and I fall into the embrace of the pretty succubus who guided me to Faul. Ahh, this warm and pleasantly smothering embrace. Even with the giant information load that just dropped, I feel like I can relax in the arms of this succubus for a long time.

Well, now that I’ve already dressed up as a bunny girl, maybe I can try and work on my charm stat? A bunny girl in pantyhose doing a leg cross and wink atop a gambling table sounds like the perfect attack to deal maximum damage to a certain pair of dusty boys.

Ah, now I’m calling them dusty boys. Perhaps I was a little inspired by a certain NPC I just met. Teehee.